A Fascinating History of JES2

Mary Anne Matyaz

From the perspective of long time SHARE volunteer and JES expert Jack Schudel, I pass along this interesting and entertaining article from Jack about the history of JES2/3; the names, the color orange, songs and buttons at SCIDS, and of course, the pioneers.

In the mid-1960's a small group of IBM employees working at the Manned Spacecraft Centerin Houston worked on a program called HASP (please see next section for "How HASP gotits name") which eventually was made available as an FDP. Its popularity and use expandedsuch that by February 1971 IBM released HASP II Version 3.0 as a Type III product withClass A support. This HASP ran as an optional extension to OS/MVT, performing theperipheral functions associated with job processing. In March of 1973 IBM released the SVS(i.e. OS/VS2 Release 1) operating system using a new version of HASP referred to asVersion 4.0 HASP II Version 4.0 was not a System Control Program (SCP). It was stilloptionally available to replace OS/VS2 Release 1 readers and writers and continued to be aClass A service. With the availability of OS/VS2 Release 2 (MVS), HASP's name waschanged to JES2.

JES2 now runs as an operator started task in its own address space, providing I/O spoolingfor local and remote unit record devices. Unlike its predecessor, HASP, JES2 is an integralpart of the SCP, and receives the appropriate service support. In 1978 IBM Further enhancedthe JES2 product with the announcement of Network Job Entry (NJE). How HASP got its name

Although HASP, and its successor, JES2, are well known and widely used, few people knowthe origins of the name. If you were to ask the hundreds of HASP fans, recognizable atSHARE by their many orange talismans, most would not know. A few would give thewrong, IBM perpetuated answer.

For the truth we must go back to the mid 1960's. IBM's OS/360 was in trouble. Thespooling (wonder where that name came from) support was slow and the overhead was high. Many programming groups independently attacked the problem. ASP, loosely based upon thetightly coupled IBM 7090/7094 DCS, held the lead in the OS/360 spooling sweepstakes. ASP's need for at least two CPU's fit well with IBM Marketing's plans for the System/360. Meanwhile, a group of IBM SE's, located in Houston, developed a different product of whichthey were justifiably proud. They wanted to popularize it, as they correctly suspected itwould be the balm for OS/360 users, increasing the usability and popularity of the operatingsystem, and, not incidentally, furthering their careers. All they needed was the right name! A name which was easy to remember, a name which would draw attention to their product,and a name to distract from the ASP publicity. That name was Half-ASP, or HASP. Naturally, if HASP and ASP were products of two different companies, the FTC would havestepped in to stop such a predatory product name. Regulatory action was prevented, however,because IBM is "one big happy family", believed by many to be larger than the Government.

The new HASP erased some of ASP's publicity lead and capitalized on the rest. Because the"H" sound is nearly silent in English, no discussion of spooling systems for OS/360 could becarried on without mention of both products. HASP adherents quickly discovered that apicture of a hasp could symbolize their product's security and confidence. Further, the ASPpeople were opposed to begin using a poisonous viper for their logo.

Where, then, did the wrong answer come from? IBM could not live with Half-ASP, so theirname calling department went to work and came up with: Houston Automatic SpoolingPriority System (HASPS). Close enough for IBM work. Why Orange?

Many users of HASP and JES2 are well aware that the color ORANGE seems to predominateour product, but few are aware of its origins. Some have proposed that it is a reference to thecitrus fruit in order to avoid the other citrus fruit connotation of LEMON. But this is NOTtrue. Others have suggested the color was picked as a challenge for those writing songs forthe Sing-Along because there are only two known words that rhyme with Orange. (It is leftas an exercise to the reader to find them.) But this also is not true. What is even worse isthat some jealous ASP (or JES3) users have joked that Orange is one half of a halloweenprank. Of course that is definitely not the reason for our use of the color Orange.

The truth of the matter is that HASP was written by Tom Simpson in 1964 while he wasworking for IBM at the Manned Space Craft Center in Houston. Bob Crabtree and Dick Hittwere also involved in the original package that was released as the FDP. When Tom came tohis first SHARE meeting he always carried and signed things with an Orange pen. Thereason he did this had nothing to do with HASP at that time, it was because is alma mater'scolors (University of Texas) were Orange and White. Since Tom was "Mr. HASP", it did nottake long for people to start associating Orange with HASP.

A Perspective on JES2 Buttons and Songs

Few SHARE attendees appreciate the part that buttons and Thursday evening songs play inthe history of IBM's operating system. These events, and the HASP and JES2 projects inSHARE, influenced the four major turning points in the history of the operating system.

Early System/360 and HASP -- Mid 1960's

System/360 software delays precipitated crises at many computer centers. Some installationshad outgrown the hardware they had. Prospective users of larger System/360s planned to useeither OS/360, the batch operating system, or TSS/360, the time sharing system. Bothproducts were late. Versions of OS/360 were shipped with the 360 hardware, but thoseversions offered either no multi-programming (PCP), or multi-programming with only onebatch partition (MFT). TSS/360 was delivered so late that in its prime only about a dozeninstallations ran it.

The HASP and ASP systems, both developed by IBM SEs in the mid-1960s, provided thespooling support installations needed to run OS/360. Without spooling, installations had to letOS/360 crawl using a card reader and line printer directly, or buy a second machine toprocess SYSIN and SYSOUT tapes. Admittedly, the single batch partition was a bottle-neck,but one could live with it.

Systems programming was very hard then. Few of the tools we have today were around then,and life was difficult. Midnight to dawn machine shots were common. The HASP systemgreatly improved OS/360 usability and performance, and was well liked. In retrospect, itseems natural that the first SHARE button should appear in March, 1968, worn by TomSimpson, reading "I Like HASP". Similarly, knowing Dick Hitt's musical ability, it seemsnatural that he would sit down at a piano in SCIDS at SHARE XXXI in Atlantic City inOctober, 1968, and, with Tom and Bob Crabtree, start a sing-along which has becometradition. The song "HASPY Days are Here Again" dates from the earliest sing-alongs. Thepresence of the HASP developers at SHARE was part of the reason for its popularity.

MVT Released -- Mid 1967

MVT, the operating system designed for the larger System/360s, was finally shipped in late1967. According to eyewitnesses, attendees at SHARE XXX, in Houston, in February, 1968,listened attentively to IBM's announcement that HASP would not be necessary with MVT,which had its own spooling. Some listeners struggled with the decision between MVTwithout HASP and a CDC 6600! Others, particularly those pioneers who had done somerunning under MVT, insisted that MVT spooling and console support represented major stepsbackwards for the HASP shops. Faced with this user pressure, IBM relented, and HASP IIwas born. The badge which shows an OS/360 rocket with the HASP II booster reflects usersatisfaction with this programming announcement. Since HASP was originally developed forNASA, the rocket symbol is particularly apt.

Meanwhile, the base operating system went to virtual addressing. SVS provided 16megabytes of virtual storage and operated otherwise much like MVT. HASP 4.0 wasprovided as a growth path for HASP II users. MVS provided each user with 16 megabytes ofvirtual storage, partly private and partly shared. JES2 was provided as a growth path forHASP users.

Then, in 1973, at SHARE, IBM indicated that JES2 was a dead-end product. They said thatimprovements like remote networking and shared spool would be provided only in the JES3spooling system. The HASP community went into shock.

Shared Spool

Systems programmers at the National Institutes of Health developed a modified version ofHASP which allowed multiple systems to use a common queue. Despite the size of themodification, and the size configuration required to use it, several other installations installedthe modification. The Mellon Bank, in Pittsburgh, was one such installation. However, therewas strong user interest in IBM support of a shared spool function. The "My Spool isShared" button to this effect appeared in 1968.

IBM's plan for MVS direction heated up the discussion considerably. In May, 1973. TodDixon (AEP), Chuck Forney (PSU), Joe Naughton (NIH), and Bill Redfield (AVA) met withAl Scherr, the father of MVS, and Gail Aguilar, head of large systems marketing of IBM, todiscuss the lack of a future for shared spool. One foil from their presentation, which depictstwo HASP systems shaking hands and symbolizes shared spool, later became a popularsticker at SHARE XLIV in Los Angeles in February, 1975. "Multi-Access", to the tune of"Rubber Ducky" also symbolizes the mood of the times.

In March, 1975, IBM announced JES2 for MVS Release 3.0, including shared spool. SHARE, the JES2 project, and IBM enjoyed a major victory for the industry.

Network Job Entry

Just as NIH and Mellon pioneered shared spool, Triangle Universities Computer Center, theUniversity of Iowa, and Martin Marietta used a package called HASP-to-HASP to move jobsand output between data centers. IBMs plan for a stabilized JES2 system flew in the face ofusers planning for that sort of function.

After receiving several requirements, IBM described their Subsystems Unified Network (anIBM internal networking system) to the SHARE Computer Networking project in November,1974. A button reading "Let the SUN Shine Out" describes the attendees reaction to thepresentation very well.

IBM announced the Job Networking package many of us now use on December, 1976. AtSHARE 49, in Washington, DC, Bob Crabtree (IBM) presented Tod Dixon (AEP) with agame patterned on Monopoly, called $NETWORK.

Conclusion

Although the buttons and songs are designed for fun, they often serve the very seriouspurpose of promoting our ideas to IBM and others at SHARE. Never think of attendees atSHARE "just" singing songs or wearing buttons.

That is the end of Jack's article. The rest are JES2 tidbits from z/OSSYgirl.

In Denver the project produced a JES2 'Orange Card' with the sessions relating to JES: